Towards the end of 2019 I felt incredibly burnt out. Lacking motivation and nursing a knee injury that just added to the mental effects of multiple race seasons piled on top of each other. In truth the thought of another season imminently approaching did not fill me with enthusiasm.
If you had said then that the world would stop in 2020 due to an emerging global pandemic, I probably would have thought too much about it. These things happen all the time dont they? Swine Flu? Bird Flu? But they never really effect us in the western world.
Well, wrong. It did effect us, along with every other corner of the planet. Everything changed and all hopes of early year races were gone. But peoples hope was admirable. Even by June, people were still confident about the coming months and when discussing my coming trip to Australia for WEMBO in November "It'll be fine by then...."
(It wasn't fine by then. In fact its worse).
The year passed by in a blaze of fury. The general public's lock-down thirst for bicycles sent anyone who worked in the bike industry into year long struggle of doubling sales, availability issues and long workshop waiting lists. By mid year, with most races cancelled and nothing looking promising, personal riding took a back burner for us all in the shop. Instead long hours were done prepping and fixing bikes and getting all the jobs done that there wasn't time for in the day.
Our spring Majorca "training camp" was canned, as was WEMBO (along with all UK 24hr races) and so motivation to train plummeted to near zero.
By early autumn an opportunity came my way for a career change, and after 4 years at HotPursuit I decided it was time to bite the bullet and move on to pastures new. Like with any new job there has been a period of adjustment needed as I transition from bike mechanic, back into the field of earth sciences. The hunger for bikes, racing and training has returned though. As I stare down the barrel of the traditional XC "off season" I feel myself more and more wanting to hit the trails and start getting some good foundation in again. Which is soothing. Although this year has been an utter shit show for everyone globally, along with the racing cycling community, I feel a slight air of optimism.
Things will improve if we all do our bit. There will always be more bike races.
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